Sunday, February 23, 2014

Holy Cow, I Made Yogurt!

I haven't really blogged about it, but this Whole Soy Yogurt shortage has really been going on for way too long and I miss it a lot! Specifically, I really miss having easy access to plain, unsweetened soy yogurt. In the "olden days" there was Wildwood plain-unsweetened Yogurt, which I loved... but that went the way of the dinosaur. Then, I fell in love with Whole Soy p-u yogurt... but they've been out of commission for what feels like forever.

People over at the PPK have been talking about finally breaking down and making their own yogurt... but I would really like to just pick some up at the grocery store. I guess I am lazy. Then, the other day I decided to make some flatbreads from an old favorite recipe of mine... When I went to look up the recipe, there it was staring at me: "Ingredients: soy yogurt." Damn! I don't want my scallion flatbreads tasting like sweetened vanilla desserts... so I finally reached my breaking point.

science breakfast!

served with some raisin bran and loganberry jam

I busted out my copy of Artisan Vegan Cheese and followed the directions, and by the end of the day, I had a big beautiful jar of plain, unsweetened soy yogurt. Confession: it really wasn't difficult at all. This recipe calls for 2/3 cups cashews, and I definitely can taste the cashew flavor. Next time I think I will halve the amount, for less cashew flavor. Also, it's not as tangy as I wish it were, but it's better than nothing.

I put the yogurt next to the heater vent on the kitchen floor,

which is usually where the cats like to hang out for extra kitty warmth. Sorry kitties!

The most magical thing was that for the first 6-7 hours it just sat there, totally liquidy and I thought my yogurt experiment was a total dud. Then, after some evening sofa time, I went back to check on it just 1-2 hours later and it was thick and creamy! All of a sudden! Science!

I wouldn't say I'm a total convert - the Whole Soy p-u yogurt is thicker, tangier and even easier than my homemade stuff. But, this will most definitely do for now, and it was a really fun project!

22 comments:

So fun, Amey! I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with making foods that you'd only ever had before pre-packaged. I felt that way when I made my own turnip pickles or the cream cheese in Artisan Vegan Cheese. Different ingredients result in different outcomes, of course, but it's exciting to make something that before seemed like something only available on a shelf.

I don't use/eat yogurt very often. I pretty much only need it when I'm making the chickpea shawarma in Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day. For that I've been using So Delicious coconut milk yogurt. It has a thinner viscosity/more coconutty taste than I'd gravitate towards for my everyday life. However, once all of the spices and whatnot are added, it's totally fine.

I remember in the really olden days when I used to make yogurt from, dare I say, cow's milk. I haven't made it since I've been vegan (since about 1981!) but I'm going to get out my copy of Artisan Vegan Cheese and see what's up. Without Wildwood, I can't find a yogurt that doesn't taste too sweet to me. I like the tangy, unsweetened version. Is Wildwood gone forever?

Yum! I started making my own plain vegan yogurt too, as I could only get a coconut one which was too coconutty for some recipes. Makes a good starter though. I warm soy milk (Vitasoy Soy Milky) add coconut yogurt and leave in a warm place for about 8 hours. It's not super thick or super tangy, but it does the job!xx

yeah, I used the Nancy's Soy as a starter, which isn't my favorite overall, but it worked fine as a starter!! "Not super thick or super tangy, but it does the job!" - pretty much sums up my efforts as well!

I definitely bought a yogurt maker (I think it was less than $30) and been making my yogurt since the beginning of the year. I really like it! I used a TJ coconut vanilla as starter and by the second batch it's not sweet nor vanilla-y anymore. I just add sweetener when I eat it (some preserved apples I made last year) and add some homemade granola... delicious!